Both sides make very valid points and if either extreme were to be chosen---to either allow pesticide use to go unrestricted or to ban them outright---they would do too much harm compared to their benefit. If pesticides were to be banned, then the county-owned golf course as well as local farms could possibly fail, employment and ultimately the economy would be affected by the ban, and homeowners would be upset because they would not have control over their own land. If pesticide use was simply allowed to go on unrestricted, then the environment would build up with pesticides, as well as humans, and ultimately can negatively affect many living species and environments. Pesticides are used in order to allow humans to produce more food, which …show more content…
First of all, and most importantly, pesticides have serious effects on human health: “A recent World Health Organization and United Nations Environmental Programme report (WHO/UNEP 1989) estimated there are 1 million human pesticide poisonings each year in the world, with approximately 20,000 deaths” (Pimentel, Acquay, Biltonen, Rice, Silva, Nelson, Lipner, Giordano, Horowitz & D’amore 1992). Allowing pesticides to be used unrestricted would be only contributing to these negative human health effects, so restrictions should be put in place. However, the negative effects of pesticides do not stop here, they also affect animals and livestock. “In addition to pesticide problems that affect humans, several thousand domestic animals are poisoned by pesticides each year; meat, milk, and eggs are also contaminated” (Pimentel et. al. 1992). These pesticides are really infiltrating every level, and it is not good. As a commissioner, I cannot stand by while the county suffers by the ban on pesticides, or the negative health effects suffered if pesticide use goes on. For this reason, I would call for serious limitations and restrictions on pesticide use in my county. Pesticides should be used cautiously for now, while being watched for any negative effects. In the future, we will continue to phase out bad pesticides and encourage use of good
However, agriculture is the central issue. While pesticides are being used to keep crops alive, a benefit to farmers, the natural ecosystem is not exactly experiencing the same effect; the ecosystem is being destroyed. An effective way agriculturists can improve on decreasing the amount of pesticides is to use continuous production, where it is reusing the fields, without wasting and hurting them.
Some of the risks are getting cancer from the inhaling Malathion once it is airborne. You also have the factor of it getting on our children, especially out toddlers. We have the largest corn field in the county right behind the middle school. What about that? Tests have shown that Malathion case cause Asthma, trouble breathing and shortness of breath. I believe it is too much of a danger for our families and the members of this community. We must find another pesticide to use for our crops.
Some research studies show that these chemicals are also the cause of birth defects in children. With the increase in the use of these chemicals, there will be an increase in birth defects. According to research done by the University of California, pregnant mothers who live within a mile away from crops that are sprayed with pesticides are more likely to develop autism in their babies. If the use of pesticides continues to grow, one day the human race with completely diminish.
Pesticides and preservatives are not only harmful to human beings, but they are also harmful to our environment and ecosystems. Pesticides used in organic farming may run-off and contaminate nearby bodies of water. If enough contaminated run-off from pesticides and artificial fertilizers get into water, it is able to poison animals and fish that live there. According to Raloff, recent studies have demonstrated that exposure to hormones has a substantial effect on the gender and reproductive capacity of fish, throwing off the natural cycle, (1). This is not only harmful to the animals that live there, but if enough fish are dying because of poisoned run-off, the fish industry could suffer and it will affect humans as well. The same chemicals that poison bodies of water could seep into our groundwater and affect the well water we drink and use daily. This does not happen with organic farming, because no chemicals are ever sprayed on the fields and there is much more run off because of tilling practices.
Agriculture is the most fundamental resource of society. Without it, humans could not live, especially in the ways we do now where people reside in cities. This means that those cities could not exist without large scale agriculture to sustain them. Since agriculture is such a necessity, people have developed methods to gain more from their land. One of the many solutions besides machinery they have developed to produce higher crop yields is through the use of pesticides. However, those pesticides which have resulted in high crop yields have come at price, and that is human health itself. This seems rather contradictory. Pesticides were designed to help people and society by increased the success of producing high crop yields, and they
Before doing research I was unaware of these alternatives and all it took was a couple of minutes for me to realize we should be supporting other methods. One in particular is called the integrated pest management (IPM). According to the National Center for Healthy Housing, “IPM is effective, economical, and environmentally sensitive. It uses a combination of common-sense practices, information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment” (Zahm 2008). It represents the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment. Therefore, the first step to help reduce this issue would be to educate the public. Many do not understand the risks they are facing by allowing their environment to be contaminated with the chemicals produced in pesticides. Also, it would help to join campaigns to enforce federal agencies to require a stricter law that will suspend pesticides that are linked to causing human health problems. Although, it would be unrealistic to get rid of pesticides completely, the public should be seeking to abolish the most dangerous type of pesticides and that would be a start. I would love to find an organization like this by where I live and recommend people to join and volunteer. So, in regards to pesticides I think the things that this organization is raising public attention and helping resolve this concern. Crops that are
San Joaquin County is known for its heavy usage of pesticides and is one of the 15 counties in California that has been labeled for using heavy amounts of these chemicals. Pesticides are a chemical based spray that is used upon crops of fields to prevent damage to the crops being grown by farmers. Pesticides have been able to form a multibillion dollar industry alongside the farming industry. While some pesticides have been deemed as unsafe for the county, state population; they are used in spraying over our crops and can lead to a health and safety risk for the population.
This scholarly text book, part of a series called Current Controversies, is composed of primary sources taken from a diversity of informational categories including books, newspapers, periodicals, international government documents, and the publications of organizations. The authors in this series examine some of the issues that typical arise in the debate about pesticides, including whether they are detrimental to human health, animals and the environment, whether they are essential to curtailing international hunger, and what the future of pesticides might be. This book widely mirrors the mosaic of opinions in both parts of the debate regarding the benefits and harmful effects
This suggests that the roadsides was once beautiful and bloomed with healthy and lively vegetation; however, they are now destroyed due to the use of pesticides. From these examples, it can be shown that even though pesticide is beneficial, its deadly effects outweigh its benefits; in addition, it is a dangerous substances to the environment, organisms, and even human.
Use of pesticide in farming has long been a topic of debate in both developed and developing countries. Significantly, Canadian farming also relies heavily on the use of pesticides. In Canada, Pest Management Regulatory Agency, a division of Health Canada regulates the use of pesticides. Although, the Ministry of Environment has banned the sale of a large number of highly toxic “pesticides for cosmetic purposes on lawns, gardens, parks and schoolyards….but the ban makes exceptions for agriculture, forestry and golf courses, and for public health or safety issues” (News Staff, 2009). However, this regulation does not wholly satisfy the majority of Canadians that supports pesticide bans on a larger scale due environmental and health concerns.
The chemical pesticides used in farming affect the quality of water because of run off which then go into lakes or rivers. In chapter four, Carson concentrates on the water pollution caused by pesticides. The pollution can be unsafe for use and causes fish to die. An example used is a study done by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1960 that showed that “our waters have become almost universally contaminated with insecticides.” (pg.41) The pesticides are especially threatening to groundwater which is an important source of drinking water for humans. Consequently, the chemicals in pesticides can cause cancer and other harm effects on our health. Another issue is that the pesticides in water and can mix with other chemicals and become a new chemical. Therefore, it can lead to the creation of an unknown chemical with harmful
Pesticides are heavily used by golf courses, as it is the same case with some parks and schools. Consumers face issues of pesticide exposure in water and food residues. For example, 94% of herbicide atrazine is found United States drinking water which is always tested by USDA. Therefore, the widespread and long term exposure to pesticides has got so many tremendous ecological effects over the years, starting from weed and pest resistance up to environmental contamination (Hakeem et al, 2017). Excessive intake of pesticides may perhaps lead to acts of biodiversity destruction. Numerous birds, aquatic animals and organisms are all under the risk of harmful and hazardous pesticides to their living. Pesticides are becoming concern of sustainability both global and environmental stability. It has been discovered that pesticides should be recovered from all Major River and water bank systems, and even from all groundwater streams. This is because residues from pesticide chemicals usually linger in the soil and they can spend there dozen years (Carson & Rachel, 2002). Pesticide chemicals enter and get lodged into fish bodies, reptiles, birds and wild and domestic animals. Frequent use of pesticides damages most fertile agricultural lands through harming the useful soil microorganisms, insect species and worms that limit pest populations naturally and
According to a recent study done by EPA, thirty-three percent Unites States household use toxic chemicals such as pesticides and of thirty commonly used pesticides, nineteen have studies pointing toward carcinogens, thirteen are linked with birth defects, twenty-one with reproductive effect, and fifteen with neurotoxicity, twenty-six with liver or kidney damage. Environmentalist Rachel Carson book Silent Spring discusses the lethality of pesticides, specifically parathion. Rachel Carson hopes to change American’s attitudes toward nature and pesticide use. In this influential passage, Rachel Carson discusses disastrous affect of parathion on nature in order to dissuade the further use of toxic chemicals. Carson begins the column by illustrating
The use of pesticides has been very harmful for humans. In Daniel Pepper’s “The Toxic Consequences of the Green Revolution,” it states that in India because of the excessive use of pesticides, people have gotten cancer, along with stillborn children and kidney failure. With these serious illnesses, it gives more body to the argument.
I believe that people are capable of choosing freely because when I am faced with choosing among a number of possibilities, I really have the feeling that it is up to me to make the choice that I want to. From my point of view, the concept that of “choosing freely” means that when you are faced with a number of alternatives, you are able to make your selection based solely on what you decide, not on force applied by other influences.